"It's not an exact science," Colorado's athletic director said during an inelegant press conference Monday on the subject of why Mike Bohn should be able to hire a third football coach after firing Mike Bohn's first two picks. "And Mike Bohn has a team of people, of faculty and leadership and internal resources and other coaches, that constantly work to try and find that right dynamic and pull that together."

Mike Bohn used the words "head winds" five different times while explaining the challenges that face CU football. That was fitting, considering most of the rhetoric coming from CU's three wise men -- Mike Bohn, chancellor Phil DiStefano and president Bruce Benson -- was just hot air.

Firing Jon Embree on Sunday with a 4-21 overall record was the easy thing to do. Where's the personal accountability from the athletic department's chief decision maker?

"Ultimately, in the end, I'm accountable for it," Mike Bohn said. "But I don't make every single decision on my own."

That's true.

Mike Bohn wanted to fire Dan Hawkins after four regrettable seasons, but Benson and DiStefano didn't like the idea of paying a football coach a seven-figure buyout and then begging for funding for the university from the state legislature.

Bringing Hawkins back as a lame duck in 2010 sent a struggling program with a disengaging fan base into a downward spiral Nick Saban wouldn't have been able to pull the Buffs out of.

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Not in two years anyway.

It was difficult to watch an emotional Embree say goodbye to his dream job and his players in front of family, friends and the untouchable Mike Bohn.

The former CU tight end and Buffs-4-Life founder was sad, angry, graceful, defiant and honest.

Could anyone have turned this program around in 23 months given the state it was in? Depends what direction your moral compass is set on.

"I guess then you've got to decide what you want to be," Embree said when I asked him if the obscene amount of money involved in college football is ruining the 'amateur' sport he loves. "You can try to do things the right way or you can throw caution to the wind and do whatever it is you have to do to win."

Lowering admission standards, paying players, and erecting lavish facilities to impress 18-year-olds are some of the "shortcuts" Embree didn't or was unable to take.

"You've got to roll the dice on a lot of different things," Embree said of turning CU football around with an impatient boss. "You expose the university, you put the university at risk. If you hire the next guy and say, 'You've got two years' ... keep your fingers crossed."

Embree deserves respect for trying to build CU football the right way. He also deserved at least another year to show that progress was being made and his young team was on the rise.

But don't feel too sorry for Embree.

He knew CU was a difficult job before he accepted the challenge. He hired coordinators without experience at those positions, compounding his lack of experience as a head coach. His team finished 1-11 this season and was humiliated on the scoreboard and in the national statistics.

"I'm going to be OK," said Embree, who is owed $1.625 million. "But it's hard leaving these kids."

The vibe in the Dal Ward Center on a gloomy Monday was that players are shocked by this turn of events and are having a hard time buying the message the leadership at CU is selling.

Mike Bohn told the Buffs he respects them to the "highest" in one breath, and then pointed out in the next breath that their performance in the Pac-12 is what dug Embree's early grave.

"We were exposed in this league," Mike Bohn said. "Did we give Jon a big enough shovel? We tried to provide additional enhancements to that shovel. Is it enough? The answer is no."

So after firing Gary Barnett, Hawkins and Embree -- paying out over $7.6 million in buyouts along the road to perdition -- why is Mike Bohn being allowed to hire another football coach at CU?

Phil?

"One thought is that we have made a decision on Jon. Our first goal is to go out and get a new head coach," DiStefano explained. "Mike has done a good job in many areas within the athletics department. Our goal now is to go out and get the best head coach that we can get and bring that person in as quickly as possible."

Bruce?

"I just want to make it clear that I am absolutely dedicated to making this program work and I'm convinced that we can go out and find a coach that can make that happen," Benson said. "Phil and I are both strongly behind this and we're going to do everything possible to make it work."

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